Gbenga Ogunbote says he’s not yet satisfied with his team’s depth, even as Shooting Stars flogged Beyond Limits in a five-goal thriller in an early fixture of Matchday One at the FC Ebedei Stadium in Sagamu.

Ogunbote, an Optima Energy Gold Cup winning coach with Remo Stars and now 3SC Head Coach in his post-match talk said he still needs to do more to build a formidable Oluyole Warriors.

“The Optima Energy Gold Cup is a platform for me and my assistants to strengthen the team as we countdown to the 2022/23 season; so am not carried away by the scoreline or victory against Beyond Limits, as there is still much work to do.

“For the players, the win is good for them as it will boost their confidence level and improve their play in subsequent matches in the preseason tourney.

“I think my team is growing in strength when compared to our performance in the last preseason tourney we had in Ikenne a few weeks ago.

“We didn’t do much in it, because I had worked with the team barely less than a month. So I used the window to have a firm assessment of the players that were retained and to know the departments which I need to recruit players for.

“Not taking anything away from Beyond Limits, they are a team I know and are good. They are a team, I didn’t need to tell you how they play as they can rattle any team regardless of your status.

“But in the game; they had a few careless moments, which I knew was going to happen and we made the most out of it. Of such moments were the two needless free kicks and penalty they gave away, which saw Akpan Joshua scoring from them to get his hat-trick.

Remo Stars recovered from a nervy start to defeat visiting Dakkada 4-1 on MatchDay 24 of the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL). 
It was a win that Coach Gbenga Ogunbote believes has positioned the club to achieve their season’s objective.
The Remo Stars Manager expectedly was full of praises for the players for scoring the highest goals return this season. 
“The Boys showed tremendous spirit in the match and I am most impressed”, remarked the well travelled Coach.
“We will continue our run in the league. Our aspiration is to finish well and we are on course”, he concluded in a post-match interview.

Following the win, the Sky Blues moved into third place with 40 points on the NPFL log, two points ahead of Rangers International who lost away to Niger Tornadoes.

The midweek clash had al lot riding on it as the Sky Blues continued their search for a continental ticket and the visitors looking to stay clear of the drop zone.
After what looked like a very even encounter in the first half, It was a different Remo Stars that emerged in the second stanza.
The home team took the lead in the 33rd minutes through Flying Eagles invitee Tolulope Ojo who curled in a brilliant shot after he was setup by Dayo Ojo. The youngster is fast making a name for himself in the colours of the Sky blue.
The celebrations that greeted the opening goal was hardly over when the visitors equalised in impressive fashion through Etido Dan.
Another quick strike from Qudus Akanni from long range in the helped the Ogunbote coached team settle in early as the visitors played catch-up.

Andy Okpe increased the lead just before the hour mark as Dakkada failed to deal with a long throw into their box by Ewelike Edozie. The lanky striker easily headed into the top corner. From then onwards it became a matter of when not if the home team was going to score another goal.
Sikiru Alimi finished the game off at the death with a sumptuous goal. The striker continued his impressive goals return since his return to the league.
Dakkada Coach, Umar Danlami was of the view that the team fared badly in the second half.
“it was poor second half that cost us the game. We could not replicate our performance in the first half and that cost us the match. We will have to go back and strategize ahead of our next match against Nasarawa United. It’s another away game and we have to put in our best”
Remo Stars next travel to Jos to tackle title chasing Plateau United, a fact not lost on Gbenga Ogunbote whose retort on the coming fixture was, “When we get to the bridge..”

Ekene Awazie’s low drive inside the opening eight minutes tipped the balance of the keenly contested round 22 tie in favour of the Anambra Wariors.

The Owena Whales took the game to the hosts minutes after going down but failed to punish their opponents from chances created; first on an indirect free kick awarded them inside the box after the goalkeeper collected a desperate back pass that denied Fuad Ekelojuoti a chance at goal.

The visitors went close to drawing level again when Sharp Uzoigwe spilled Kehinde Adedimpe’s volley, but the goalkeeper reacted fast to stop Fuad Ekelojuoti from pouncing home from the rebound 10 minutes from the break.

In the 41′ Adedimpe evaded his marker with a nutmeg in the area; shot on target, but Fredrick Obomate dragged wide from his rebound. Then three minutes later Emmanuel James drew a save from the goalkeeper with a free kick.

The task could have been made more daunting at the interval, but David Ariyo spared the coach Gbenga Ogunbote tutored side’s blushes with a top of the drawer save from a goal mouth lose ball at the stroke of half time.

Ariyo was on hand in the 69′ to deny the hosts with another brave stop from goal mouth, while at the other end a combination of good goalkeeping and desperate defending thwarted a certain leveler from Sadeeq Yusuf’s low drive. 

Four minutes from time, Ariyo stood firm again to keep his side in the contest with a big save from inside the area, which set the stage for a last minute attempt at equaliser in the shape of Sunday Emmanuel’s curling effort that drifted just wide.

OGUNBOTE’S POST MATCH

“I thought we were going to have a break here but unfortunately we didn’t. Yes, I think we can survive relegation, we just have to take our chances; if we had taken those chances in the first half, maybe we would have been three, four goals up. We need to be calm in front of goal.

“The government is trying now to live up to their parental responsibilities to ensure that things are done to get the team motivated and I think that will boost the team; yes the governemt is more committed than before. 

“When a team does not win the confidence level drops and is nowmore of psychological problem than technical, but we will keep working on correcting this.”

The Akure landlords next host MFM FC in a Southwest derby on match day 23.

Sunshine XI | Ariyo; Abe (C), (Olulayo 76′) Oladuntoye, Alimi, James, Adeyemi, (Emmanuel 73′)Adedipe, Obamote, Ekelojuoti, (Adejubu 73′) Yusuf, (Ojukwu 54′)

Subs | Ayodele; Ewelike, Abisoye, Yakub, Ajani

Cautions | Alimi 5′ Adeyemi 47′ Oladuntoye 55′

Chris Okunnuwa 
Media Officer; Sunshine Stars FC 
IG, FB & Twitter: @SunshineFCAkure